Knocking Down Walls
by AAnitab
Summary: Miss Parker and Jarod have pointed guns at each other dozens of times, but when someone else almost manages the shot, it breaks down a few walls. Jarod/Parker romantic smut head. Oh, and remember, I am the queen of romantic smut.
1. A few bricks crumbling

Title: Knocking Down Walls

Author: AnitaB

Author's Notes: This has been sitting in a notebook for awhile. But hey, happy, smutty Pretender fic deserves a chance to be read. Miss Parker and Jarod have pointed guns at each other dozens of times, but when someone else almost manages the shot, it breaks down a few walls. Oh, and remember, I am the queen of romantic smut.

I own nothing from Pretender and nothing I do own would be worth the lawyer's fees of suing me. No money is made and no infringement is intended.

Knocking Down Walls

By AnitaB

Chapter one: A few bricks crumbling

She was going to beat that look off his face. She was seriously going to enjoy the sight of his smile cracking as all the air rushed out of his lungs and his stomach muscles tightened.

Of course, trying to hit him right now could be fatal. Bullets flew in the big window between them, hitting the far wall with audible thumps. That knowledge didn't manage to uncurl Miss Parker's fists.

/Must be those anger issues my doctor's always talking about.\\ As the slap of lead into the brick wall slowed, she pushed to her feet against a nearby pillar. /Damn you, Jarod, for leading me here.\\ A glance across the room showed that the lab rat wasn't smiling anymore. Jarod was kidding behind his own pillar, watching her with a trade-marked look of worry. /How fuckin' dare he worry…\\ The urge to cross the room and smack that look off his face was ten times stronger than it had been with his smile. Her fingers itched, sweeping back the edge of her jacket to wrap around the butt of her gun. The touch of the metal alone made Miss Parker feel just a little bit better. More of her violent tendencies. /Daddy would be so proud.\\ A glance around the edge of the pillar showed the car outside. The one two men with 9 mils were hiding behind. The gas tank would be… about three inches… behind that spot in her sights.

A breath in. Hold for the slow squeeze of the trigger.

"Fuck, Jarod!" A hard body slammed into hers, forcing her breath out in a rush. One of his hands pushed her gun up as he pinned her against the pole. Now he was angry, leaning in with a low growl.

"Damnit, Parker!" Fingers along her jaw forcibly turned her head until her eyes focused on a crater in the wall. A crater in direct line with the exact spot she'd been standing in before wonderboy had jumped her. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

She should be struggling, shouldn't she? Not just standing there with the lab rat pressing himself against her, touching her. /Do something, Parker.\\ "Shouldn't you be relieved, Jarod? One less person trying to put you back in your cage, huh, lab rat?"

Pain flashed across that face, leaving Miss Parker to stare at it in shock. Every little emotion was painted all over him and it froze her in her shoes. /Jarod…\\

"Milagros," Miss Parker had just enough time for her eyes to widen and her breath to catch in her throat before breathing at all became impossible. Jarod was kissing her. Jarod, lab rat and escape pretender, was holding her close and gently stroking her lips over hers. And Miss Parker knew she should push him away. Curling her arms around his neck like this, opening to the hesitant exploration of his tongue could get them both killed. And not just by the two gun-toting jerks outside. The center, her father, Mr. Lyle, and the triumvirate. The list went on. But the way it felt to finally have Jarod's arms around her…

Every cell in her body would cry out in protest if she even thought about pushing him away. "Jarod," Her fingers slid into his hair, angling to deepen this forbidden taste. Parker groaned against the smooth stroke of his tongue. Jarod was kissing her, all hesitation gone. The groan turned into a gasp as he flattened a hand in the small of her back and pulled her flush against his chest.

Every single strong, hard line of his body imprinted itself against hers as his tongue eagerly explored her mouth. This was a simply terrible idea but the instant he started to pull back, Park dug nails into his skin. "Parker…" His hand left her skin, sweeping back under the edge of his leather jacket. "You should go…" The hand reappeared holding a gun. Jarod brushed a quick kiss over her lips and slowly pulled out of her hands. "I'll cover you." His fingers caught hers, sliding the heavy silver ring off and into a pocket. "Go, Mia, be careful."

Parker tried to speak as Jarod leaned around her to expertly put a round into one the tires. But the words just wouldn't come. Closing her mouth, she ran one hand along his jaw before sliding out of his arms. Fingers tight on her gun, she forced herself to walk out the door without looking back.

/What the hell have you done to me, Jarod?\\

000

She'd always been able to push his buttons, since he'd first seen prim little Miss Parker walk into his sim lab. And now his little Milagros had pushed him again. Right into her arms. A small part of his brain was staring at this with shock, but most of him was obsessed. Obsessed with the taste and feel of her lips under his. Jarod simply adored the way her fingers slid into his hair. He loved every aggressive little inch of her body pressing closer. Jarod had dreamed of this…

"Jarod,"

Her voice… /My Milagros…\\ He needed more, now. Closer. Mindless, Jarod found his hand on her back, dragging her flush against his chest. Drinking her groan, he lost himself in her kiss, fingers cupping her jaw.

The world disappeared, buried under the feel of Milagros Parker finally holding him, finally having her arms around him. There was no broken glass, no flying lead. No one shooting at Milagros…

Wait… /Pull back, now. Keep her safe…\\ With a breathless sound, Jarod tried to pull back. It only got harder to do as her nails dragged along his skin and her lips clung to his. /Oh, honey, please…\\ "Parker…" Weakly dragging his fingers off the heat of her skin, Jarod reached for his gun. "You should go…" He had to let her go, now. He just needed one more taste of her. A hairs-breadth from losing himself again, Jarod forced himself to pull back, out of the precious grip of her hand. /Let her go…\\ "I'll cover you." He couldn't let her go, not just yet and slipped her ring into his pocket. "Go, Mia, be careful."

Knowing her voice would shatter his restraint, he didn't wait for her to find words. Instead leaning around her to aim shakily at the car outside. If he flattened the tires, they wouldn't be able to follow Miss Parker out. First shot done, Jarod shifted for the second before Milagros cupped his jaw and stopped every muscle in his body with the heat of her touch. /Please, Mia, go…\\

Jarod stayed frozen until a chill covered his cheek and chest. She'd pulled away. Letting out a shuddering breath, he focused down the sights at the second tire. A breath in, hold for the slow squeeze. Second tire gone, he aimed again, this time for the steering column. Wiring and fuses were so fragile.

In the distance, Jarod heard a car flare to life and burn rubber. /That's my Mia Parker.\\ He knew he was smiling as he holstered his gun. He was still marveling over Miss Parker as he stepped in his front door.

/Milagros,\\ The taste of her was still on his lips. Her heat still covered his skin. All his nerves begged him for more of her. Jarod needed to see her. Touch her.

Hear her voice. On their own, his fingers found and dialed his cell phone. It was the way most of their talks started she was on his mind and suddenly his phone was at his ear. But today… today his mind, his skin, every nerve and fiber of his body were directing the motion of those fingers. "Milagros,"

Three rings, a breathless silence, then a soft, "Yes?"

Hesitant, careful. As Miss Parker always was when she was confused. He could see her. Her hair was wet and her favorite robe was synched tight at her waist and tucked high against her throat. She was in bed with a glass of hard liquor and her phone. Waiting for the call.

For his call. And Jarod would give his right foot to be in that room right now, to pull her into his arms, to cradle her against his chest. He rubbed her ring, now on his pinkie, across his lips. "Parker,"

"Jarod," The relief in her voice made his hands clench. He could be on her doorstep in thirty-five give or take five. And get them both killed.

Or her killed and himself recaptured. /Focus, Jarod.\\ "Are you… alright, Mia?" Her breath shuddered and hesitated in his ear. He wanted, no needed to hold her. And he couldn't. "Milagros?"

"I… I'm okay, Jarod." He heard the ice clink in her glass as she took a sip. Probably whiskey, bracing herself with alcohol. Running her fingers through her hair. Hair he'd finally gotten to touch today. Milagros was probably chewing on her bottom lip like she did only when she was alone. The lips he'd finally been able to kiss. /Mia…\\ "What happened… today?"

"I ran, they chased." Jarod sat down on his bed. "But without you, they didn't have a chance."

"I meant…" The glass chinked against her nightstand. He could almost hear her hug the robe closer, maybe the blanket too. "Before, Jarod. In the warehouse… what happened?"

She knew exactly what had happened. Every cell of her body had been there, pressing closer into his arms, Miss Parker had held him tight, had kissed him with equal passion and need. He was still wearing the faint mark of her nails on his neck. Mia knew what had happened in that warehouse. "We touched, Milagros. Really touched for the first time in far, far too long." Jarod pressed the phone tighter to his ear like he could reach her through the plastic and metal. "We kissed, Mia, like we both have wanted to for a long time." He paused, listening to her breathing. "Unless I read you wrong." /Please, Mia.\\

"You…" The glass clinked, her throat cleared and Jarod could feel her searching for the words to answer. Maybe searching for the safe answer, a lie. His grip on the phone loosened, but only slightly at the sound of her sigh. "You've always read me too well, Jarod."

Relief stole his breath and the tension in his spine. His shoulders sank into the pillow as he held the phone closer. "Mia,"

000

Her normal skills at lying fled at the sound of his voice. Jarod… Jarod was the one person who she couldn't lie to. "Unless I read you wrong."

The memory of how well he'd read her brought a helpless sigh and a moan to her throat. His touch, his kiss. The feel of his body finally so close along her own. Parker was helpless against her own reactions to him. She'd *needed* him, needed his warmth and his strength. "You always read me too well, Jarod."

His breathless groan made her fingers clench around her phone. She'd felt that sound now, pressed against her ribs as his lips had finally explored hers. /Fuck, Jarod.\\ "Mia," The way he said her name… not even Sydney used her real name. Broots would tremble himself to death with fear at the thought of using her name. And Jarod made her shiver by turning that sound into something like a prayer. "I… I can't go back… to before." The way he could tighten her nerves with just his voice.

/Damnit, Jarod.\\ "It's impossible. You run, I chase. Anything else could get us both killed." It was the safe thing to say. The responsible thing. It was the only thing that would keep their world from shattering and collapsing around them in fatal little shards. Damage control had always been her specialty. Sweeper history and all. Though the safe answer had never hurt this badly before. "Nothing can change, Jarod."

"It's already changed, Milagros." Her nails dug deeper into her skin at the heat of his voice. Jarod wasn't going to let this be easy, damn him. "I will never forget how you fit in my arms." His voice deepened, roughened in her ear, reminding her of the sound of his groan. "I won't lose the heat of your skin against mine, Milagros. Not once I've touched you. Don't try to tell me you didn't feel it too, how right it was."

Any tighter and her robe would become a ligature. Like she could lie to him. Parker knew exactly how she'd responded to him. And so did he. She wanted to just admit it. To get his ass over here and hold her. "Jarod…"

"You felt it, Mia. I know you did." A strained silence filled the line between them and Milagros Parker could feel control slipping through her fingers. "Please tell me the truth."

She could feel him waiting impatiently, could almost feel his arms curling around her, his hands on her skin. "I… I felt it, Jarod." Parker swallowed at the relieved sound of his breathing. "How could I not."

"I miss you, Mia. I need to hold you."

His voice did nothing to calm the shivering of her nerves. If anything, it was worse. Parker wanted to be held in his arms, knowing the heat would soak into her skin. She'd stop shivering… until they killed him. And then it would only get worse, much, much worse. "It's impossible, Jarod."

"No, Mia, it's not impossible." His voice trembled through her fingers. "Two of the best minds the Centre ever touched, we will figure it out, Mia. I can't not touch you again." The low groan he made stroked nerves from her ear to her toes. "Soon, Milagros, wait for my call."

The things he could do to her… "It better be soon, Jarod." Unfisting her fingers, Parker let the collar of her robe loosen. "Be careful,"

"You too, Mia. Soon."

The click of the phone made her hands automatically put the cell away even as the logical part of her brain cursed her stupidity. /Damnit, Jarod. What have you done to me?\\

Three days and he still hadn't called. She could have killed him. After she'd kissed him senseless and pinned him to a wall.

Her skin itself missed him, had been arguing with her for days. It have been one kiss, one time with his arms around her and her body wouldn't let her think about anything else.

Frankly, it was starting to piss her off.

"Parker," Long fingers waved in front of her eyes. Sydney, Sydney was talking to her. "Are you alright, Parker?"

Flicking the ash build up from the end of her cigarette, Milagros Parker tried to focus on Syd's face. "I'm still here, Syd."

"Are you really, Parker?" Insightful old coot. "You seem… rather distracted of late."

All wonderboy's fault, of course. But she couldn't tell Sydney that.

He'd never stop smiling.

"Sydney," Parker took a long drag on the cigarette, blowing the smoke towards her pet psychologist. "You keep tellin' me to get a hobby, Sydney. Now you complain that I'm distracted. You of all people should know how to make up a mind." She smiled, patting his shoulder. "Maybe you should keep an eye on Broots."

"And where is it that you're going, Parker?"

The smile widened as she turned in the doorway. "Out." With one more puff of smoke, Mia grinned at both speechless men and left.

She was halfway to her car when her heart leapt and her fingers clenched. Now he had her jumping at the sound of her own cell phone. Whoever was calling was going to lose an ear. Maybe even Jarod…

"What." /Jarod?\\

"Such a temper, Milagros Parker. How is your ulcer doing under the stress?" Parker forced trembling knees to keep walking towards the car. Breathing needed encouragement as well. /Damn you, Jarod.\\

"What can you expect, wonderboy, when you don't call a girl for three days." She clucked a scolding at him, knowing she hadn't quite managed her normal sardonic tone. "Makes a girl nervous." Sliding into the driver's seat, Parker cuddled the phone closer. Damn his voice. And the way his laugh made her nerves tighten.

"Why, Mia, you must allow me to apologize in person." He sighed and dropped the teasing act. His voice took on the tight, slightly pained tone she hadn't erased from her own. "I've missed you, Milagros. I need to see you, hold you. Please."

It wasn't safe. It wasn't smart. It was a horrible idea that might get them both killed. She absolutely should tell him no. "When and where?"

"Twenty minutes, south west corner of Park and 8th avenue." The relief poured off his voice and she could almost see him smiling and touching her ring. "Be careful, Mia, make sure you're not followed." His teasing and flirting returned for a moment. "And don't you dare change out of that skirt, Mia."

Milagros Parker couldn't help a smile and a short laugh. Jarod wasn't as innocent or pure as he sometimes seemed. Smart enough to watch her unseen, voyeur enough to appreciate her legs. "See you soon, Jarod. Don't be late."

"Never, Milagros."

000


	2. Loss of Control

Knocking Down Walls

By AnitaB

Chapter two: Loss of Control

Of course he wouldn't be late. Jarod had waited those three days just as impatiently as she had. And he'd had the further distraction of watching her, seeing her eyes go distant and her fingers touch her lips. This morning's skirt had nearly done him in as she'd walked down her own front steps.

Jarod absolutely had to get her into his arms and his hands onto those legs. Soon, very soon. All he had to do was wait and make sure she arrived safely.

Then he could touch her. /Mia, my beautiful Milagros.\\

Jarod smiled, rubbing her ring across his lips. Then he could taste her kiss and feel those long nails dig into his skin. /Stop daydreaming, and go get her.\\ Straightening his leather jacket, Jarod locked room 27 of the Miracle House Motel and walked across the street. The coffee shop had a perfect view of Mia's most likely route from the centre. /Soon, sweetheart, I can touch you soon.\\

He should have known better. His brilliant girl would never have taken the most likely route. The curtain in room 27 twitched without the door opening. /That's my Milagros.\\ Setting aside his cup of coffee, Jarod smiled and stood. Time to go get his girl. Absently, he wondered where she'd left the car.

And how she'd gotten into the room. "Mia?" The card blinked a little green light as the door opened. There… that was her mother's perfume. And that, that tingling in his fingertips meant she was close. But not close enough. "Milagros?"

"You're early, Jarod." His eyes fell closed at the drag of her nails along his shoulder and down his arm, even through the leather jacket. "In a rush?"

"You're early, too, Mia." He caught those trailing fingers between his own, turning towards her. God, Mia was … /So beautiful,\\ And watching him with heat in her eyes. "Did you miss me?" Jarod needed more, needed to feel her. Raising her hand, he buried his lips against her palm. "Well, sweetheart?"

His heart stuttered and started to race when her eyes feel closed and her fingers trembled. "Jarod," Her voice made his hands shake. He adored that his Milagros responded this strongly to his touch. But Jarod needed to know she was certain.

Jarod stepped back and opened his arms. "Come here, Mia, please." Mia bit her lip, eyes searching his face. "I need to hold you."

Her stillness, her hesitation seemed to shatter and Jarod found himself with an armful of Miss Parker cuddling closer to his chest. "Yes, I missed you, Jarod." He groaned as her arms tightened around his neck and her fingers clenched in his hair. She felt like heaven in his arms, dragging him down to demand a kiss.

Never had there been a man more willing. /Mia,\\ Jarod groaned at the feel of her lips on his, opening eagerly to the sweet invasion of her tongue. His hands thrilled at the feel of her hair between his fingers. His lips adored the hungry stroke and press of hers. His chest felt tight with the feel of his precious Milagros finally in his arms again. But she still wasn't close enough.

"Mia," Jarod reluctantly pulled back but couldn't stand to actually let her out of arm's length. Palms slid up the curve of her hips to open her jacket. "Let's get you out of this." He adored the slight twist in her smile as her dark painted nails trailed down his chest.

"You first, wonderboy," He couldn't help a smile and a groan at the feel of those beautiful hands inside his leather jacket rubbing along skin that was desperate for hers. "I don't want you running out on me."

/My sweet Mia,\\ Jarod caught her face in his hands, pulling her closer. "Listen to me, Milagros Parker. I'm not running out on you. Not ever." From inches away, Jarod watched the melting heat in her eyes before they fluttered closed and her arms tightened around his neck. "Not ever, Mia." Helpless to resist, he leaned in for a desperate kiss, drowning in the taste of her need. /God, I love you, Mia.\\

000

Jarod's hands held her in the grip of his gaze. Those rich brown eyes burned into hers as his words heated every cell in her body. He stole her restraint, making every muscle in her body go shaky. Parker clung to his neck as her knees and eyelids fell. "Not ever, Mia."

And then he stole even her ability to breathe with the desperate need of his kiss. Jarod held her so close and so tight and all she could think about was getting him even closer. /Jarod,\\ She dug her nails into the hard muscles of his shoulders to drag him closer. Parker needed the weight, heat, and strength of him against every inch of her skin.

Which meant they both had to lose all these damn clothes. Weakly, she shoved at his chest and pulled back from his kiss. "Jarod," His arms opened just a little, giving her enough room to start peeling her leather jacket over her shoulders. Parker watched a smile crawl onto his lips in the instant before his hands pushed hers out of the way.

"I've wanted to do this for so long, Mia. He pressed a kiss into each of her palms before tugging the sleeves over her wrists. The jacket fell away and his hands hovered in the air near her waist. Parker felt the weight of his eyes sliding over her, head to toe. "I need you, Mia Parker. I need to touch you."

His voice sent tremors through all her nerves. She found herself wrapping her fingers around his wrists to guide those big hands to her hips. She found her eyes following her own fingers up his shirt buttons to rest on his strong shoulders. "What, Jarod, are you waiting for a written invitation?"

Then he moved. Parker barely had time for a breath before Jarod had her pinned between his chest and the nearest wall. Those big… ah… gorgeous hands dragged up her thighs as his hips pressed into hers. "'Til three days ago you wouldn't even let me touch you at all, now you wanna hurry, Mia?" A deep, hard kiss drove her nails into the back of his neck and her legs tighter around his waist. He was hard, close, and touching her. Life simply could not be any better.

Unless he was naked. "Fast, slow, either way I'll love it, Jarod." Parker cupped his jaw in both hands and invaded his mouth with an agile tongue. She waited until his hands clenched and his ribs shook with a desperate groan… then she pulled back. "But get started quick before I lose my patience."

His hips shifted, rocking against hers to a shared groan. "You have patience left?" His arms closed tight around her ribs to lift her off the wall and carry her to the bed. "I must do something about that."

She adored the look on his face as those hands pulled her shirt loose from her waistband. His eyes pulled his name from her lips. "Jarod,"

"Shh, Mia, patience. I have some exploring to do." His lips brushed hers, distracting her from his fingers at her buttons. Hot skin slid up her ribs and her hands clenched in his leather jacket. Jarod was on his knees at her feet fully dressed. Parker was going to tear the clothes off him in pieces to get to his skin. "My beautiful Mia. 

"Jarod," Parker scratched her nails over his chest through the t-shirt. "I'm not losing any more clothes 'til you do, wonderboy." The leather jacket hugged his shoulders, but nothing got in Miss Parker's way for long. Just ask her sweepers. The leather hit the floor and her heels crossed behind his hips. "Come here, Jarod, closer."

His smile sent a shiver along her back in the instant before her back hit the mattress. Wonderboy's smile only widened as her arms and legs wrapped tight around him. "Well, Mia, are you out of patience yet?" His hand slid under the shirt to cover her heart, cupping her breast along the way. "Wow, just feel that pulse rate."

There was just enough humor in his voice to raise her hackles. Jarod was not the one in change here. She was going to make him shiver and run out of patience. Right now. "Jarod," She planted a hand against his shoulder and pushed him to his back, sitting across his hips. She loved the look on his face and the way his hands clenched on her hips. But those hands would distract her if they stayed there. "Arms up, wonderboy."

"Mia," She ignored the plea and ran her nails up his chest under his shirt. Smiling, Parker watched his eyes clench and his neck arch before those hands helped her peel the fabric off over his head. "Mia," She couldn't resist the heat of his eyes on her lips and the grip of his hands on her back. "Give me a taste."

Parker let his hands guide her down to his chest, to the warmth of his skin and the head of his kiss. Damn, he was too good at this. The dance and twist of his tongue against hers had hers hands fisting in the sheets. His hands, big, strong, gorgeous hands, were heating the skin up her back and edged up her thigh under her skirt.

Another three inches and he would win this little endurance contest they were having, leaving her putty in his arms. And Milagros Parker never lost. Not even to Jarod. "Hmm… big boy." Dragging herself back from his lips, she grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the pillow on either side of his head. Good damn, he was built. Every inch of his chest and stomach called for her to explore those sculpted muscles with her lips and tongue and teeth. Just little bites to leave her mark on his skin where no one else would see. /Breathe, Parker, focus. Play the game.\\ "I know you've been cuffed to a headboard before, wonderboy. I promise you'll enjoy this time the most."

He groaned, harsh and low in his that gorgeous chest and locked his fingers around the bars of his own free will. "Only if I get to chain you to the bed later, Mia. Do you want to be helpless? To lose control completely with me?"

She could see it. His complete and total attention on her. His scientist's focus on cause and effect would make him explore every little thing his hands and mouth could do to her. He would whisper theories to her in that hot, low rough voice as she lay helplessly and impatiently waiting for it. /Jarod,\\

Every single inch of her body went shivery and tingly at the thought. Completely safe and totally out of control, with her Jarod guarding and controlling her. /Oh, fuck, yes, please.\\ "Next time, hell yes. But I don't think we'll last long enough for that right now." Leaning down against his chest, Parker risked a quick, hard kiss and dragged her nails over his broad shoulders. "Just let me touch you, feel you, first, Jarod." He trembled, closed his eyes, got a death grip on the headboard, and nodded.

That he trusted her this much was as hot as the feel of him under her hands. "That's my Jarod. Hold on for me."

000

She was killing him with that look and the purr in her voice. Jarod had dreamed, fantasized and come to the idea of Milagros Parker handcuffing him to her headboard and doing anything she wanted to him. Fisting his hands around the bars, he felt the helpless sound climb his throat. To the curve of her smile, he found the words to describe his other favorite fantasy. "Only if I get to chain you to the bed later, Mia. Do you want to be helpless? To lose control completely with me?"

Jarod felt her reaction ripple through every inch of gorgeous body pressed so tightly against his own. His Milagros groaned, arch, dug her nails into his chest, and shivered above him. Her body melted over his in the moment before she gave him the words her reaction had already shown him. And what a response her voice caused in his every nerve. "Next time, hell yes. But I don't think we'll hast long enough for that right now." He was still breathless when she claimed his mouth in a deep, hard kiss. Mia's hands clenched on his shoulders. The delicious bite of her nails almost kept him from hearing the need in her words. "Just let me touch you, feel you, first, Jarod."

He'd never really believed that she would give him this much desire and heat. But she was and giving him her trust and letting go of her so tightly held control. His Mia was giving him so much more. He could feel the weight and heat of her gift rub along his every pleasure receptor on the way to his heart. /God, my sweet Milagros, take all of me. I'm yours.\\

Words were beyond the abilities of the puddle she'd made of his self-control. Jarod barely managed to get a grip on the headboard and give her a nod. The shaking only spread along more of his nerves as Mia claimed him with her words and leaned closer for a kiss.

Jarod fought to show her everything he was feeling through the kiss. He loved this, loved feeling her heat, tasting her kiss. He adored the simple press of her hands against his heart. This kiss was heaven, this was more than enough love and heat to melt his every nerve into white hot liquid steel. The only scrap of control left in his entire body seemed to be in his hands. Every stroke of her tongue tightened his fingers around the bars. Every slide of her hands against his chest sent heat along his spine and a groan to his throat.

And then she pulled back. "Mia, please." Every inch of his body arched up to get her back.

She smiled, touching her fingertips to his lips and pushing down on his chest with her other hand. "Shh, Jarod. It's my turn."

Hot eyes trailed down his body in a line of fire. The look on her face made all his skin feel that heat. No one had ever looked at him like that ever. No other woman had ever controlled him so easily with a touch, a kiss, a look. "Milagros, please touch me. I need to feel you, kiss you. I want you."

"I'm right here, Jarod, you have me." Milagros licked her lips, stroked both hands spread wide down the hungry skin of his chest. "And I have you." Her hips shifted against his as she leaned down to trail a line of kisses down his throat and over his heart. "I want you, too, Jarod."

The first stroke of her tongue over his heart was quickly followed by a sharp but gently bite. Just knowing that she had marked him, claimed him stole the last of his control. The glide of her fingertips against his erection through his jeans put dynamite to his crumbling restraint. Time, it was time to set her off, to blow the living hell out of her control.

"Mia," His hands left the headboard to capture hers at the button of his pants. If her fingers reached their goal… well Milagros Parker would be wearing his spare clothes and leaving the shredded ones he would rip off her behind. "Sweet Milagros, it's my turn." Jarod wrapped his arms tight around her waist and rolled her under his chest. The grin on her face matched his own. If losing their game got him her skin under his hands… well, it seemed like a fair trade. "Hands up, my girl, hold on for me."

The rasp of sound on her lips tempted him down for a quick kiss while her hands slowly moved to the bars. He weakly pulled back to the soft, pleading sound of his name.

"Sweet Mia, let me…" those legs called to him, her skirt twisted high around her thighs from sitting across his hips. Jarod dragged himself out of her arms to kneel between her feet. Four inch high heels buckled around her ankles. It always surprised and impressed him when she ran in shoes like these. Jarod cupped both hands around that smooth, lean calf, lifted her ankle to his lips and kissed his way up her soft skin towards the back of her knee.

"Jarod," He smiled against her knee, fingers soothing at her ankle as he stripped off her shoe. /Beg a little more for me. I'll give you anything.\\ The pleading tone in her voice sharpened when he turned to her other ankle instead of climbing her thigh. "Damnit, Jarod, please."

Her legs shifted under his hands, his lips, begging like her voice was begging. But her hands stayed on the bars for all her writhing. /That's my girl.\\ He was finally going to take advantage of the short skirt twisted around her hips. "I've got you, my sweet Mia. I'm going to make you feel so good."

Locking his eyes on her face, Jarod spread his hungry fingers wide against her knees and slowly dragged his hands tight against her skin up her thighs and under her skirt. Every inch of her body responded to the slow heat and friction of skin on skin, beautifully. He felt that response echoing through his every nerve. Shoving a little higher, Jarod curved his fingers around her gorgeous hips. He'd never felt anything in the world softer than her skin. He adored the arch and twitch of her muscles under his hands. These gorgeous legs were about to be wrapped around his waist as he wrapped himself in the softest skin on this earth.

But not 'til he tasted and touched a hell of a lot more of his beautiful woman. "Good girl, give me more." His lips dropped to her raised knee and sipped at the tense muscles of her inner thigh. Tightening his hands on her hips, Jarod pressed a gentle bite into the soft skin of her thigh. /Mine, you're mine, Milagros.\\

"Jarod!" Her hands clutched at his hair, fingers scratching at his scalp and the back of his neck. His touch had broken her tightly held control.

Nothing was more beautiful.

000


	3. Claims and Plans

Knocking Down Walls

By AnitaB

Chapter three: Claims and Plans

Even clinging to the headboard while Jarod kissed and stroked his way up her legs was amazing. She'd known he was a legman for years. But his kiss and touch was going to make her truly appreciate that. He was making her arch and tremble under the strong and gentle drag of those hands over her skin to her hips.

Then his lips really got in on the game. Wonderboy kissed and licked his way up suddenly sensitive nerves. He owned her nerves, leaving her barely holding onto enough control to keep her grip on the headboard. /Oh, Jarod, please.\\

Parker felt him smile against the inside of her thigh as his strong arms cradled and controlled her body from the waist down. She had a fraction of a second to wonder why before he gently sank a perfect imprint of his teeth into the skin of her inner thigh.

/Oh, fuck, yes.\\ Her entire body felt and delighted in the claim and need in that bite. It dragged her hands from the headboard to fist in his hair. It pulled his name in a mindless cry from her lips.

Dragging Jarod up over her body, Parker wrapped her arms and legs around him and dove into a deep and desperate kiss. She needed all of him, every hot, smooth inch of his skin against her own. She needed those strong, gentle hands on every hot, desperate inch of her skin. She wanted, needed more. Everything. "Damnit, Jarod. We need to be naked. Now."

Missing the heat of him under her hands, Parker forced her fingers to the button and zipper of her skirt. Jarod pulled back to kneel between her ankles strong hands curled into the waistband with a smile. "Lift up, Mia." She watched the muscles in his arms tighten and flex as he peeled the fabric down her legs and threw it off the edge of the bed. Then those hands slid up her ribs, dragging her shirt up her back and over her head. "Oh, my beautiful Mia."

Those fingers reached for her as those gorgeous eyes burned down at her. As much as she desperately wanted those hands on her skin, she needed his pants off more. "No, no touching me 'til you lose those pants and I mean naked, wonderboy. Take 'em off."

"Only if you're naked." His fingers moved to his belt and stopped moving. His eyes locked to the front clasp of her bra with an arch of his eyebrow. "Well, Mia?"

/My stubborn labrat.\\ Parker reached for the clasp while watching his gorgeous fingers work open his belt. He stopped when she did, bra open but still covering her. His belt was open but his pants were still zipped and buttoned. /Jarod,\\ When her bra hit the floor, those gorgeous hands opened the button and zipper. And then he stopped.

"One more thing for me, my little Mia. Then I'll take off the last of it for you." The whole time he was speaking his eyes were exploring her chest and his fingers were playing along the open V of his pants. /Two can play this game.\\ Parker waited a heartbeat, sliding her fingers over the lace edge of her underwear. "Please, Mia."

His voice made her fingers clench before she managed to get them moving. His pants hit the floor a heartbeat after the last of her clothes. Part of her couldn't believe it. They were naked in each other's arms. "Come here, Jarod, now."

The heat on his face ignited every nerve in her body even before Jarod crawled into her open arms and pressed every burning hot inch of his skin against hers with a wordless rasp of a groan. /Oh, hell, yes. Jarod.\\ Parker's body responded head to toe and every inch in between. Her arms curled around his neck as her hands clenched on his broad shoulders. Her legs wrapped tight around his waist, her heels crossing behind his hips to drag him closer.

She couldn't breathe or speak to save her life, but she felt everything. Parker felt his breath, hot and ragged against her neck. She felt his big hands drag heat up every sensitized nerve in her back as his chest cradled her breasts against his pounding heart. His lean hips pressed high between her legs, the hard length of his erection pressing so damn close to where she wanted to feel it.

"My sweet Mia," Jarod managed to control his muscles enough to get his lips to hers. Parker was drowning in the heat of his skin and his kiss. Locking her hands in his hair, she welcomed the slow, devastating heat of her Jarod against her every hungry nerve.

All too soon, he tried to pull back, making her claw at his shoulders. "Jarod,"

"Shh, Milagros, I need to touch you, feel you, taste you." One of those big, gorgeous hands tangled in her hair, tilting her head back. "You are so beautiful, Mia. And you're all mine." A quick brush of lips later, all she could do was cling to his back as he kissed his way down her throat. He pressed a gentle bite over her pulse with a groan.

Her nails were going to draw blood on his back if he kept teasing her like this. Jarod cupped a big palm against her ribs. His eyes locked on her face for the slow, heated drag of his fingers up her side to cradle her breast in warm, calloused skin. "Jarod, please."

"So soft, Mia, so smooth and warm." His fingertips danced over and around her nipple, making her body arch up into his touch. "You feel so good in my hand, but I've wondered for so long about how you'd taste."

He was trying to kill her, licking his lips as he slowly lowered his head to her chest. The first brush of his lips against her nerves tried to arch her back. But there was no way in hell she was missing this sight. Burying her nails in his shoulders, Parker groaned helplessly watching and feeling that gorgeous mouth feed at her skin. "Fuck, Jarod." The wet heat of his tongue sent little shivers up her back with each hungry stroke. His fingers found her legs, guiding her knees higher around his ribs.

"So damn good," Jarod planted a kiss and a gentle bite over her heart before hot eyes lifted to hers. "I'm going to kiss and taste every inch of this gorgeous skin before I let you back out of my arms." His fingers stroked up the insides of her thighs as his lips kissed their way down her stomach and hips. "Are you ready, Mia?"

To have that smart alec tongue playing with her nerves like his pez candy? /Oh, fuck, yes, please.\\ Parker braced her heels in the mattress and locked her fingers around the headboard. "I'm so going to handcuff you to my bed and torture you just like this."

Those lips curved against the top of her thigh in a wide smile before they moved a breath away from her pleading nerves. "Promises, promises."

The first stroke of his tongue against her clit shoved a shout up her throat and an arch through every inch of her body. /Fucking hell, yes.\\

000

This was heaven. He'd never been convinced about life after death one way or the other. There wasn't conclusive evidence. But if there was an afterlife, this would be his choice of how to spend it.

Nothing in this world or any other could be more perfect or beautiful than his. Jarod adored the heat of her skin bare against so much of his own. He loved the strength of her responses and the bite of her nails. He could happily spend forever between her thighs tasting her wet heat and hearing her voice cry out for him.

/My sweet Mia,\\ His hands explored and stroked, feeling and cataloging each and every arch, shiver and twitch of her muscles. Jarod loved the taste of her need on his tongue, the sweet desperate sound of his name on her lips.

But it wasn't enough. Every inch of his body was intensely jealous of his tongue. Nothing felt better than his Mia Parker giving him full access to the most intimate parts of her. Trusting him with all of her. "My gorgeous Mia."

Plunging his tongue deep into her heat, Jarod tried to put all the need and love he felt into the heat of his touch.

By the sudden, sharp bite of her nails in his shoulders, he guessed he succeeded. "Damnit it all to hell, Jarod, get the fuck up here. I need to touch you, feel you. Now!"

She wanted to touch him and there was nothing he wanted more. "As my lady commands." Pressing one more kiss to the trembling line of her thigh, Jarod followed the pull of her grip up the curves of her body to her face. /Good Heavens, you're beautiful.\\ Brushing a kiss over her lips, he whispered. "I'm yours, Mia. Touch me, please."

Mia smiled and he knew his control was about to be put to the test. "Lie back, Jarod, and hold on." It was hard, so hard to give up the smooth heat of her skin under his hands. But the light dance of her fingertips over his ribs got him moving. "That's my good boy." The second he was flat on his back with a grip on the headboard, Mia got moving too. Those gorgeous legs curled across his legs as her hands stroked down his chest to his hips. "Bet you've thought about this before, huh, Jarod?"

One fingertip dragged slowly up the length of his erection to play her nails around the tip. /Oh, hell, yes.\\ He'd thought about this before, Jarod loved her hands. He adored her strong grip and dangerous nails. He could breathe past the oh-so-delicate exploration of her gorgeous fingers. /Mia, please.\\

Jarod tightened his hands on the bars and locked his eyes on her fingers for the first full stroke of her hands around his length. Groaning low in his chest, he couldn't help thrusting into her hands. Need bypassed his brain and even he was a little surprised at the words on his lips. "Fuck, Mia, sweet hell, harder, please. Tighter."

She smirked and did him one better. Long fingers squeezed around his base, arching his whole body to thrust into that grip. When his eyes closed and his head fell back, his tricksy little Mia tried to kill him. "That's my good boy. Hold on tight."

Her breath ghosted over the head of his erection as his only warning. Then her soft lips wrapped around his tip and her tongue did truly brilliant and sinful things to his most sensitive nerves.

There was no holding on during this. "Sweet Fuck, yes! Milagros!" His hands buried themselves in her hair as he fought to control the thrust of his hips. She wasn't helping his control, taking him deeper and humming low in her throat. Her nails scratched lightly over his skin, just one sensation too much. "Oh, fuck, please, Mia-baby."

He wanted, he needed, he took. Before Jarod had drawn breath for the next groaning, he found they'd moved.

Somehow he'd gotten Milagros on her back. Plunging every hard and desperate inch of himself between her thighs, he dragged that tempting mouth to his own for a kiss as deep as the press of his body into hers.

Hot, soft, wet, and so tight it stole his breath, every inch of her body strained to take him impossibly deeper. Her hands clutched at his back, her legs wrapped tight around his hips, and her tongue met his stroke for hungry stroke.

This was how he wanted to spend eternity, buried as deep inside the woman he loved as he could get, with every inch of her body holding him so tight.

"Oh, sweet fuck, Jarod." Her nails dragged over the skin of his back as her lips returned to his for the softest, sweetest kiss he'd ever had. This was heaven and she was his favorite angel.

But he should never forget that the woman in his arms was no sweet, innocent little girl. Her halo and wings came with horns and a tail. And he loved her dark side.

She broke the kiss to give him a twist of a smile. Jarod managed to brace himself for whatever was coming in the second before she acted. Those warm lips brushed against his pulse before she pressed an imprint of her teeth into the skin of his throat.

She'd marked him, claimed him… shattering his control into so much dust and fragments. "Mia, my Mia."

His arms tightened, forcing every hot, gorgeous inch of her skin harder against his own. His mouth found hers, his tongue plunging deep and desperate. The muscles in his back shifted and rippled under the bite of her nails. Jarod put every muscle in his body into the first arch and thrust of his hips, so much harder than he'd planned.

"Yes, Jarod, hell, yes." Her body met the hard plunge of his, welcomed it, thrilled in it. Oh, yes, it was time. Time to show his Mia that the man in her arms, in her body wasn't as pure and innocent as he sometimes seemed. It was time to shatter her control with every inch of his body. /More, my sweet Mia, now.\\

He felt a quick burst of surprise ripple through her nerves at the strength and force of his move. But it came with a helpless pleasured moan and arch. That was exactly how he wanted her, wracked with helpless pleasure in his arms. "More, Milagros? Tell me what you need."

Before his eyes, wrapped so hot and sweet around his hungry nerves, his Milagros begged. /Sweet hell, yes, Mia, need me this much.\\

"More, Jarod, harder, please." Her nails dug into his back as her hips somehow changed the angle just a little. On the next plunge, that little change let him shove even deeper into the gorgeous heat of her. "Yes, Jarod, there, deeper."

Anything for her, for this. Bracing his elbows in the mattress and her body in his arms, Jarod kept the angle and shoved every hard inch of himself as deep as possible and held painfully still. "Here, Mia?"

Every inch of her body clung, arched, and trembled, fighting for just a little more depth. "Yes, fuck, yes. Jarod, again."

Slow, smooth. He fought to keep each thrust careful, but hard and so damn deep his muscles shook with the need to come at the end of stroke. But she was coming first if he had to kill himself to hold on just a little longer. "Mia, so close, sweetheart. You feel… so damn good." He was leaving finger marks on her hips and her nails were about to draw blood on his back. The sting of pain only heightened the pleasure of each hard thrust. It was so good, but it wasn't enough. Jarod leaned down for a desperate kiss. He had an idea.

000


End file.
